Those Careful Touches
by DragonFireHeartKeys
Summary: Natsu, Lucy, Gray, Erza, and Happy are riding the train to their next job and Natsu is feeling ill. Gray gets stuck 'babysitting' but he notices some interesting things about the interactions between the dragon slayer and the celestial mage. Part 2 in "It's Only a Matter of Time."


Part two of "It's Only a Matter of Time." Writing as Gray was fun because I got to think of all the different kinds of names that Gray uses to refer to Natsu :D Also, I couldn't resist the small Rave Master bit.  
Anyway, please feel free to comment (they encourage me to write more) and enjoy!  
I don't own fairy tail or rave master.

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Really, what did I do to deserve this? Why am I always the one put on babysitting duty?

"Gray…Why does the train have to sh-shake so much?" the said 'baby' whines from the seat across from me. I send a cold glare his way, making sure to resist the urge to kick him. Erza would be pissed if we somehow managed to damage our ride to our next mission due to a fight breaking out between me and the fire breathing idiot. Not that he could really fight me right now in his current condition.

"Shut your trap, flame brain! It's your fault that I'm stuck here! While Happy and the girls get to have fun in the entertainment car, I have to make sure your sorry ass doesn't get sick or set things on fire by accident!" Really, life isn't fair. Don't I deserve to have some fun too? And honestly, what's the deal with dragon slayers and motion sickness? Is it the world's way to compensate for the massive amount of magical energy that they have been given?

"Ugh…" Natsu moans in response. He didn't even have enough energy to snap back. He's lying on his stomach, half on the train seat and half off of it, with his pale, greenish head facing towards me. His cheeks begin to puff up some. I grit my teeth.

"You better not try to throw up on me Natsu. I won't hesitate to freeze it onto your face," I threaten. His face grows a bit greener in response before he slowly exhales.

"You don't ha-have to be such a j-jerk, ice princess."

Before I can retort, I hear a happy giggle coming from the door to the train car.

"Who would've thought that this train would have a casino on board?! It's so cool, right Plue?" A female voice says with joy. I know it's Lucy before she even makes her way to us with her white dog spirit snuggled up in her arms.

"Welcome back, Lucy. Did you have fun?" I ask graciously. Even if I am a bit mad about being ditched, I'm not about to take that out on anyone but the flaming dumbass across from me. Her light brown eyes fill with happiness as she smiles brightly.

"Yup! Erza, Happy, and I found the casino! My luck isn't all that great but Erza's is amazing! She's actually still there with Happy. We met a girl there named Elie who has been giving Erza a run for her money. Literally."

"Oh? Really?" Erza was amazing when it came to gambling. I swear she was just psychic or something. No one at the guild ever dared to challenge her to any kind of card game except Cana.

"Yeah, and speaking of Elie, she was travelling with a group too. One of the guys looked a lot like you actually. It startled me at first. But they were all really nice!" She glances at Natsu before sighing. "Jeez Natsu… I would think that you would get used to the train by now and therefor become less of a hassle for the rest of us!" She scolds but there is a small smile on her features as she tries to scoot the fire mage over so she can sit down. He sits himself up slowly.

"I'm sorry Lucy...urk…" he manages to get out. Lucy rolls her eyes, but the tender smile doesn't leave.

"It's ok Natsu. We'll be there in a few hours and then you'll be back to your usual fired up self."

"If only the thought he-helped Lucy. A few more hours…"

"He's just a wimp," I chime in. He glares at me and Lucy giggles.

"Only when it comes to vehicles." Natsu glances at her but says nothing. Was that supposed to be an insult or a compliment? I honestly don't know.

The train jerks a slight bit and the fire mage collapses onto the train seat again, but this time with his head on Lucy's lap. She squeaks in response as her face turns red.

"Na-Natsu! Wh-what do you think you're doing!?" the celestial mage cries. Natsu winces a little but does nothing to move.

"Forgive m-me Lucy… I don't have any strength left to move…" he explains as the female puffs her cheeks up in annoyance. With a smirk, I stand and pound my fist against my palm.

"Would you like me to use _my _strength to move you then?" I have been waiting the entire ride to get a chance to punch that furnace face, and now not only do I get the chance to do so, but I get to help out a pretty girl in the process!

Natsu weakly shoots a glare at me but before I can do anything, Lucy puts her hand up and shakes her head.

"Thank you Gray, but it's ok," she tells with a sigh. The dragon slayer's eyes go wide for a moment, as if her response shocks him as much as it did me.

Seeming to notice the sudden silence, Lucy blushes furiously before darting her eyes towards the window and folding her arms over her chest.

"It's just this once! And only because you're feeling really sick and need to lie down!" she defends and I can see the tension in my rival's shoulders ease.

I sit back down, still feeling a bit confused but not willing to say anything but "Ok."

We are silent for a bit. Natsu seems to get comfortable (as much as he can while he's still looking like he wants to hurl) and Lucy continues staring out the window. Chalk it up to boredom or curiosity, but I decide to keep watching them out of the corner of my eye.

Eventually, the female mage's arms seem to get tired of being folded and she unfolds them. However, she has a moment where she looks uncertain of what to do with them. Slowly she rests one hand on the hand rest and the other one hovers above Natsu. If I were her, I would pinch (or punch) him. But I have a feeling that she isn't going to be taking a page out of my book today.

Sure enough, with extreme focus, she lets her hand rest on top the pink haired idiot's head. It takes all of my self-control not to laugh when her eyes dart around to see if anyone has caught her. Lucy lets out a small relieved sigh and glances at Natsu, who has relaxed more. He's no longer making sickly noises at least.

Her fingers begin tracing small circles through the dragon slayers hair and he leans closer into them, a content smile forming on his face. A few minutes later and he no longer looks as pale and he's silent. Then it dawns on me.

"Wa-wait! Is he asleep!?" I question, causing Lucy to jolt a slight bit, but not enough to bother the sleeping male. She glances at him and then nods in conformation. My jaw drops a bit. That fire breather had never fallen asleep on the train without Erza knocking him out first. Yet here he is, snoozing the evening away on Lucy's lap. If I'm completely honest, I'm a bit jealous. Lucy is very interesting and pretty good looking… but it looks like I'm a bit late to this game.

I stand up with a light laugh, attracting light brown eyes filled with confusion. "I'm going to the casino now that I've been freed from my babysitting duties." The celestial mage smiles and I start making my way to the hallway, all the while laughing to myself about how dense the both of them are. Seems Lucy is the only one as of late who can calm the hyperactive dragon. I guess it's best that way though isn't it?

"Gray!" I hear Lucy call after me. "Your clothes!"

"What!? Again?!"


End file.
